A potential overhaul of religious protections has sparked intense debate even before it has reached the parliamentary chambers.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese informed his party room that he had discussed two pieces of draft legislation relating to religious discrimination with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. The government has not yet released the overhauled bill publicly.
"Our position is that if there is bipartisan agreement we will proceed. If there is not agreement, then now is not the time to have a divisive debate, especially with the rise of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia," Mr Albanese said. The abandoned bill aimed to create new laws to protect people from discrimination on the grounds of their religious beliefs, and to end an existing caveat in discrimination law that allowed schools to exclude LGBT staff and students on religious grounds.
"I cannot imagine that the Coalition are going to be supporting laws to protect against religious discrimination that aren't also going to be appallingly discriminatory against trans, gender diverse and same-sex attracted people." Mark Spencer, from Christian Schools Australia, described the bill as "the great missing gap" in federal discrimination protections.
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